The Daily Money: Trump vs Harris on the economy

Good morning! It’s Daniel de Visé with your Daily Money.

If the economic visions of President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump were starkly divergent, the contrast between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris is nearly blinding.

Since Harris replaced Biden as the Democratic nominee, she has unveiled a wish list of proposals that go further than Biden’s in aiding low- and middle-income Americans by making housing more affordable, reducing the cost of child care, cracking down on price gouging and lowering prescription drug costs, Paul Davidson reports.

Here's a rundown on their plans.

Curbing the impulse to spend

Anytime you click on a targeted ad and reach for your wallet, or grab something that caught your eye at the supermarket checkout, you are making an impulse buy.  

And few of us, it seems, have much impulse control. 

In a recent survey by the personal finance site BadCredit.org, 90% of consumers ages 18 to 43 admitted to making impulse purchases.  

An impulse buy is something purchased in the spur of the moment, a spontaneous, unplanned departure from your shopping list.  In the old days, an impulse purchase was something you spotted on a mall rack or in the checkout aisle. Nowadays, it’s often an item you buy after clicking on a customized popup ad or a link on an Instagram post.  

Here are some tips on how to curb the impulse-shopping habit.

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• . . . And how to talk to kids about money

📰 A great read 📰

Finally, here's a popular story from earlier this year that you may have missed. Read it! Share it!

Annuities are an essential component of the American retirement system, starting with Social Security. Why, then, do so few Americans understand them?

Most of us, it seems, are pretty much clueless about annuities. In one recent study, the American College of Financial Services gave older Americans a score of 12% out of a possible 100% for their knowledge of annuities, based on their performance on a short quiz.

Among a dozen knowledge areas measured in the school’s Retirement Income Literacy Study, the annuity ranked dead last.

Here's all you need to know about annuities.

About The Daily Money

Each weekday, The Daily Money delivers the best consumer and financial news from USA TODAY, breaking down complex events, providing the TLDR version, and explaining how everything from Fed rate changes to bankruptcies impacts you.

Daniel de Visé covers personal finance for USA Today.